Love Over Knowledge
May believers eat meat sacrificed to idols? An idol is nothing, and there is one Father from whom all things come. But knowledge puffs up while love builds up: if his eating destroys a brother Christ died for, Paul will never eat meat again.
8 1About food sacrificed to idols: we know we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. 2If anyone thinks he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know. 3But if anyone loves our Father, he is known by him.
4About eating food sacrificed to idols: we know an idol is nothing in the world, and there is no Father but one. 5For even if there are so-called gods, in heaven or earth—and truly there are many "gods" and many "lords." 6Yet for us there is one our Father, all things from him and we exist for him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, all things through him and we exist through him. a a v6 Here Paul sets the Father and the Son side by side: the one God is our Father, the source of all things, and the one Lord is Jesus, through whom all things came to be.
7But not everyone has this knowledge. Some, still used to idols until now, eat this food as if it were truly sacrificed to an idol, and their weak conscience is made unclean. 8Food does not bring us closer to our Father. We are no worse if we do not eat, and no better if we do. 9But be careful that this right of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. 10If someone sees you, who have knowledge, eating in an idol's temple, won't his weak conscience be emboldened to eat food sacrificed to idols? 11So by your knowledge this weak person is destroyed—the brother for whom Christ died. 12When you sin like this against your brothers and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. 13So if food makes my brother stumble, I'll never eat meat again, so I won't make my brother stumble.
